The Dog Barber

This caricature depicts a French dog barber who stands in profile holding a pair of scissors in one hand and a wooden box made to serve as a stool in the other. His coat which would have been fashionable in the 1740s, was well out of fashion by the time this print was published in 1771. He wears a muff around his neck, an accessory associated with the French at this time. Under his arm is a black, long-haired dog, who seems to be struggling to get free. His hair hangs in a straight unruly mass on his shoulders, but he wears a long neat queue down the back and a tiny cocked hat on his head. On a hanging board in the upper right corner is a sign: "La. Vengeance Decrotteur. Royal tond. des. Chiens proprement."

The print is from volume I of six volumes of Mary and Matthew Darly's "24 Caricatures by Several Ladies Gentleman Artists &c."The Darlys capitalized the craze for caricatures, the practice of making a likeness with exaggerated mannerisms or features to create a comic effect, which were popular with London's upper classes.The Darly’s catered to this audience by publishing a prolific assortment of caricature prints during the 1770s. Their most famous work was their encyclopedic "Caricatures" which included prints of macaroni’s as well as other interesting characters, such as macaronis, all based on their own drawings and those submitted to them by amateur artists lambasting their friends, artists, and other figures in London life.The front page of Volume I describes them as “…a Series of Drol[l] Prints consisting of Heads, Figures, Conversations and Satires upon the follies of the Age…” These prints were published in groups of 24, in six volumes that were published between 1771 and 1773. Colonial Williamsburg owns volumes 1-3.
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